


A Bitesized Spiderman

by The_Mishamigo



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Gen, Toddler Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Wizards, dad tony stark, for a bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:27:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27790732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Mishamigo/pseuds/The_Mishamigo
Summary: When Peter’s de-aged after a mission gone wrong, Tony has to step up and look after him as May goes on a work trip. How hard could it be?
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 12
Kudos: 170





	A Bitesized Spiderman

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact- My middle name is Natasha and I always used to say it as In-The-Tower a kid because I could not pronounce things.. so that’s why Peter calls Nat that😂

Peter never listened to him, Tony thought, as he watched the teenager disobey direct orders to swing past him. What was the point of briefing him for a mission if he never listened in the first place? He rolled his eyes as the boy made some pop-culture reference, once again calling something Tony knew as a child ‘old’ (only reiterating how old the man was beginning to feel around Peter). 

Tony watched in horror as the kid’s voice disappeared from his comms in the snap of a finger, the beam of light hitting Peter directly. Peter disappeared out of sight. Tony flew to where the body had been and his heart rate picked up. He looked around in horror, hoping the boy was just playing a trick on him. When he heard a sharp cry from the pavement, he couldn’t really believe what he was seeing.

Young eyes stared back at him. That couldn’t be, however. He swore on his life that they got all the civilians to some safe house. That was Peter’s job. The fact that Peter was already on the battlefield with them meant he had done that with success. He might disobey orders but he’d never leave anyone around to be harmed. He flew down. Those eyes were familiar, he thought.

The young boy giggled. He must be around 4, maybe 5, Tony thought. He stared at Tony with this look of awe, as if the man hung the moon. He babbled words Tony didn’t understand. The young voice seemed to ask where is dad was, although he couldn’t quite pronounce any of his words just right.

“Peter?” Tony stared. “Oh hell no.” This could not be happening. Sure, the kid had a hell of a baby face but he sure as hell would remember if the kid was an actual infant. “This is not happening, oh god- this is so not happening.” 

“Daddy?” The kid’s small, but kinda chubby (in the cute toddler way) hands tried to reach for him. “Daddy? Is tha you- daddy?” 

No way. Tony Stark was not a father and especially not to a Spider toddler who was a teenager only a few minutes ago. Tony looked up into the sky and cringed, knowing he needed to get back to the jet to keep this new baby-Peter away from any harm. He grabbed the kid, easily scooping him up with one arm, and flew back to where the ship was. 

“Weeeeeewooooo,” Peter called as they flew through the air, moving around in Tony’s arms. The kid’s carelessness for his life seemed to be passed down to his toddler self, Tony thought. “This is so funny, daddy!” 

“I aint your dad, kid.” Tony mumbled.

Peter pouted at the closed Iron Man’s mask, nodding. “Uh, yeah you are!” He said, his face crumbling. He started to tear up and found himself sobbing as he was finally put down on the floor. “You are!”

“Kid!” Tony dragged a hand through his hair. God, this was going to be rough. He sure pitied May who was going to have to live with a toddler for the foreseeable future, she had done it before so he was sure she’d be able to do it again. Tony knew for sure he couldn’t handle it. “Look... I’m going to take you to your Aunt May in just a bit but we have to wait for some people, okay?” 

Peter crossed his little arms and crawled onto to Tony’s lap as soon as he had got out of his suit. “Yeah, okay! I got it! Hey, daddy? What should we play? I thinkkkk we should play eye spy!” 

“Seriously, Pete?” Tony grumbled, picking the kid up and putting him back down onto the floor. “I’m not your daddy, remember. Go play imaginary dolls or something.” 

“You’re boring.” Peter shouted. 

Tony put a hand over his heart. “I’m wounded. You really hurt me there, kiddo. Way to tug at the heart strings.”

“And a weirdo.” He mumbled, turning away so he wasn’t facing Tony. 

The team arrived a little bit afterwards. Clint went straight to the little baby, picking him up. The little boy reminded him of his littlest kid, Nate. However much the man got on his nerves, Tony would always compliment him on being a good father. “And who might this little man be?” He grinned, tickling the boy’s stomach. Little giggles filled the room, the sound even making Tony crack a smile.

“That, Mr Barton, is Peter Parker.” 

“Hang on..,” Clint blinked, staring down at the baby in his arms who was now staring back up at him, waiting for him to tickle him again. “You’re not serious?”

“You think I’d be making this up?” 

“Daddy!” Peter’s face lit up, his arms trying to reach out to Tony again whilst in Clint’s arms. 

“Oh- this is just amazing,” Natasha laughed at Tony’s panicked face. Clint has given Peter back to Tony, the man holding him for only a few seconds before putting him down. Peter was quick to put his arms around Tony’s leg, refusing to let go. “He thinks your his dad?” 

“It’s not amazing.” Tony groaned. He looked down at his leg and sighed dramatically at the sight. He reluctantly picked the kid up and held him in his arms. “I’ll only hold you if you leave me alone later on.”

“You’re a funny man, daddy.” Peter mumbled, his little head resting on Tony’s chest. “I luv you,” 

“Yeah. Same to you-,” Tony mumbled. 

“How do we turn him back?” Steve said, weirdly enough the first person to talk much sense since coming back. “I’m sure we’d all rather not have a toddler in the Avengers and I’d like to have actual Pete back.” 

“Guess we’re paying a visit to Strange,” Tony said. “I’ll get some new clothes and toys ordered for bitsize Spidey here and then give him to his Aunt tonight and then in the morning we’ll head off.” 

“Sounds like a good plan,” Steve nodded. “Isn’t he a cutie, though? Look at his little baby cheeks.” 

“Didn’t know you were such a baby fan, Steve.” Tony chuckled, trying to not be too loud as the little boy had drifted to sleep on his chest. Tony covered him up with his suit, making sure he kept warm. 

“Can I hold him?” Steve asked, taking a few steps towards Tony.

“Later. He’s asleep.” Tony said, holding the kid tighter to a point where it looked protective. He frowned at the looks he was getting from his team, Natasha outright laughing in his face. “Just because I’m not waking him as he’ll probably have a tantrum.. doesn’t mean that I’m happy the kid thinks I’m his father.”

It was an outright lie. The Avengers knew it. Tony knew it, really. Hearing Bitesize-Peter calling for him, and only him, made his heart warm up. He knew that they had a good connection before but knowing that Peter gravitated towards him without knowing who he actually was meant more to him than he realised. He told himself that it could just be the fact that Tony found him first but he hoped it wasn’t. 

When he called May and explained the situation... he really didn’t expect her response. She didn’t believe him at first until Tony got FRIDAY to send a picture of little Peter trying to eat a bit of the Iron Man gauntlet. She didn’t know what to say. She had laughed down the phone, the laugh turning into worry. 

“Well, uh, when are you going to come and get him?” Tony had said into the phone, trying to make sure little Peter didn’t start crawling up the wall. 

“Tony.. You’re going to have to look after him yourself. I’m going to a work conference in Europe for a month... he was going to stay at Ned’s house but I guess that can’t really happen now. Will you be okay?”

Tony stopped. He stared at the toddler who had managed to climb up on the ceiling without Tony noticing, Peter’s wide eyes staring right back at him as he had leant back on his chair. He shouted at him to get down and only could breathe properly when Peter was down and in his arms again. “But May... how the hell am I supposed to look after a toddler? Especially ones who can apparently still climb up the side of walls..,” 

Peter giggled in Tony’s arms, grabbing a bit of his hair. “Daddy, daddy, daddy,” He mumbled. “I wanna be just like daddy when I grow up.”

“Yep. Okay, kid,” Tony sighed, “Can you just be a bit quiet for me? I’m talking to your Aunt,” 

Peter nodded, smiling at the man he thought to be his father. May’s voice came through the phone. “Sorry, Tony. I have to be there. You’ll be fine, sounds like you are already.” 

When she hung up, Tony looked down at Peter with a playful glare. “When you grow up, kid, you’re going to be in so much trouble. I can’t wait to tell you I told you so. I wish you’d listen to me.”

Peter grinned. “Ok, daddy.” 

When the order of all the stuff Peter needed came through, when they were back to the tower, Tony himself was surprised about how much he ordered. He raised his eyebrows at the collection in front of him, putting Peter down on the floor. “Look, Pete, I got you loads of toys to keep you preoccupied.”

“What does that mean, daddy?” Peter looked up at him with curious eyes. “That’s a huuuge word. Preoccupied-,” He repeated, but the word was slurred and almost unrecognisable. 

Tony snorted at the kid’s attempt and knelt down to pat him on the head. “You almost got it and it means ‘busy’. Do you know what that means?” Peter nodded his head quickly. “Well done, buddy. Now go play with some of the toys.”

“Okay! Thank you for all the cool stuff!” 

Tony sighed, watching the kid run around. It was almost nice to see Peter so innocent and free, it was nice to see him enjoy life as kid. Peter had been through a lot, too much if you asked Tony, so to see him this little felt good. He did, however, miss normal Peter. Peter would usually be sat by his side this time of night, talking Tony’s ear off about his day. He’d ask him questions about science, about life in general, and Tony would pretend to be annoyed but he’d still reply and smile as the kid looked happy, cuddling into Tony’s side.

“Daddy?” 

“Yeah Petey-Pie?” Tony sighed, not even bothering to correct the kid at this point. 

Peter had two toys in his hands, looking hopefully up at Tony. “I kn-know you said to play on my own but do you wanna play?”

“Ok, bambino,” Tony knelt down and sat beside him, not even thinking to say no when the kid looked at him like that. “What are we playing, kiddo?” 

Peter’s little eyes lit up. “Okay! So! You can fly, right? So you’re playing as you because you’re a hero- not only because you can fly, dada, that’s because you’re my favourite person and my favourite person is a hero. I’m playing as your sidekick. Our goal is to save everybody!” 

Tony chuckled at the kid’s excitement, taking the action figure in his hand. “I’m going to tell you, as my sidekick, to focus on the very important mission of helping the people rather than fighting the aliens. I’ll tackle that important task.” As Tony talked, Peter watched and nodded his head. He listened in as if what Tony was saying was the most important thing in the world. “Let’s go,” 

The two of then player for a whole hour, Tony coming up with elaborate stories for his character, laughing as Peter would try and copy him but would end up saying something silly, but adorable, that just wouldn’t make sense. Bitesize Peter was just as cute as regular Peter, his personality filled the room and everyone that walked in the room tried to play with the little kid but he’d refuse and point to Tony and say that he was obviously busy playing with his daddy. Tony was smile smugly at them, shrugging his shoulders. Yeah, Peter was his kid. 

“Alright, Mr,” Tony said. “I think it’s time for a certain kiddos bedtime. Don’t you think so?” 

Peter shook his head. “No, daddy! I’m not tired!” He jumped up, running around. “See! I’m not even tired! Look-,” 

Tony chuckled. He got up and grabbed Peter from the floor. He tickled his stomach, “I think you are, actually.” Peter’s giggles filled with the room along with little no’s in between. Tony smiled, moving his arm. He put Peter up on his shoulders and smiled warmly as the kid held on. 

“Wow! You can see the WHOLE WORLD up here!” Peter smiled, “I like sitting up here.” 

“I’m glad, bambino.” 

Tony took Peter up to his bedroom and looked at the small little bed one of his staff members had put together. He took the kid down from his shoulders and put him on the floor. “Hmm.. what PJs would Petey like to wear tonight?” 

Peter walked up to the dressers and pointed to some space themed pyjamas. “Those one please!” He smiled. 

Tony took them out. “Come on then, kiddo. Into your PJs.”

Peter did at he was told and was tucked into bed and asleep only ten minutes later. Tony kissed the kid on his forehead. He walked out of his room. He was so good at this stuff, he thought. How hard raising a toddler really be?

Tony was in bed that night, sleeping soundly next to Pepper, when FRIDAY woke him up to let him know the kid was up and running around. He groaned. He checked the time. It was 3am. Why the hell was the kid up? He got out of bed, smiling over at Pepper’s sleeping form. He walked out of the room and crossed his arms, frowning, when he noticed Peter climbing on the ceiling of his hallway. The kid’s laughter filled the room. 

“Peter....What are you doing?” 

“Climbing, daddy,” Peter said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“It’s 3am, buddy.” Tony sighed.

“Uh, huh,” Peter frowned. He climbed to the side of the wall and made his way down to the floor. “It was really fun.” 

“You can’t do that when I’m not around.” Tony picked him up, holding him in his arms. He took him back into Peter’s bedroom and sat down on the side of his bed, Peter still in his lap. “What would we do if you had fallen? Petey, it’s not safe.”

Peter’s bottom lip quivered. “S-Sorry-,” He stuttered. Tears bottled up in the bottom of Peter’s eyes and Tony grumbled to himself as they started to fall. He wasn’t sure how to stop a little boy from crying. “I’m so sorry!”

“Hey, shhh,” Tony tried. “Don’t cry, bambino. Come on, kiddie, please.” 

Natasha walked into his room. She was still up and could hear little Peter’s cries from her own room. She looked down at Tony’s tired face and smiled slightly. She walked over, taking Peter from Tony’s arms.

“Why are you so sad, Peter?” Natasha asked him, sitting him up on her knee. She brushed some of his little hair our of his face and wiped a stay tear off his cheek. 

“I-I made daddy upset-,” He cried. “I-I didn’t mean to, I-I just wanted to climb on the ceiling.” 

Natasha looked over at Tony and smiled, imaging the situation. “Ok, buddy. That must be really upsetting.” Peter nodded a few times. “It’s okay to be sad, though. It’s good to cry and let it all out.”

Peter’s cries came to an end after a while. He looked at Natasha and smiled a little. “Thank you Nat-Nat-,” He tried to say her full name, frowning when he couldn’t. 

“That’s okay, buddy. I think we should be getting back to bed now. Shouldn’t we?” Natasha smiled. She put the kid back into bed and followed Tony out of the room. 

Tony frowned. “How did you do know what to do?” 

“I have my secrets.” Natasha said, turning around and walking out of the hallway back into her own room. 

Tony was woken up only five hours later with Peter staring at him from the bottom of the bed. He jumped, not expecting to see the kid there. “Jesus!”

“Hey daddy!” Peter grinned, trying to jump up on Tony’s bed. “I can’t get up.” He pouted.

Tony groaned. He leant over and picked the kid up, placing him in the middle of him and Pepper. “What are you doing?” 

“Well, Mr Rhodey told me to come and wake you up. He said we have to go visit a wizard!” Peter said. 

Tony sighed. “Okay, kiddo. Should we get ready then? Do you want to help me chose an outfit?” 

“Oh! Yes please! Can I sit on your shoulders again? Please!” Peter climbed onto Tony’s lap. 

Tony let out a little laugh. Peter was adorable. He placed the kid on his shoulders and got out of bed. Walking over to his wardrobe, he let Peter pick out his suit. Peter picked such an obnoxious blazer that he almost said no but his little face was so excited at all the colours that he couldn’t disappoint him. He let the kid off his shoulders and got changed. Peter grabbed his hand as they walked out of his room, meeting up with the rest of the Avengers.

“Me and Daddy are here!” Peter said. He looked at all of the people who were gathered around and put a serious face on. “Right, everyone! The team has got one mission- we need to save the wizards!”

“Pete.. what on earth are you talking about?” Tony laughed, adjusting the kid’s jacket that was falling off. He grabbed a pair of small baby gloves and put them on Peter. He made sure to put the matching scarf and hat on too, it was cold outside and he didn’t want the little boy to get a cold. “We’re not going on a mission.” 

“B-But...,” Peter pouted. “We’re not? That’s so boring, daddy.” 

“I’m sorry about that, kid.” Tony rolled his eyes. He put the kid back onto his favourite spot (his shoulders), and walked down to meet Happy. 

Tony struggled whilst putting Peter in the car suit as the toddler (and teenager) didn’t know how to stay still. He strapped the kid in after 10 minutes and stared out the window as they drove off. Peter was telling him all about the TV show that him and ‘Mr Rhodey’ had watched this morning. Tony listened in, nodding at times to amuse Peter. 

When they finally arrived, Strange was standing by the door waiting for them. He invited them in, smirking at how Peter was glued to Tony’s leg. 

“Petey, please get off my leg.” Tony groaned. “I can hardly walk.”

Peter pouted. “Miss In-the-tower-,” Peter said, mispronouncing her name. “Please can I play with you whilst Daddy talks to the wizard? He’s really boring anyway so I’d rather play with you.” 

Natasha grinned, smiling smugly at the group. “Course I can, baby.” She put him on her shoulders and started to run around the room with him. His cheering filled the room.

Tony frowned at the two of him. He was the one that made Peter laugh, not her. He walked forward to take Peter back but was pulled away by Steve. “Tony, come on. We need to figure out how to change him back.” 

Tony sat in front of Strange. “So? How do we do it? It was one of you that did this to him so-,”

Strange rolled his eyes. “It was a minor wishing spell. The spell transformed Peter into what he wished to be the most.” 

“Why on earth did the kid want to be a toddler?” 

“You’re meant to be a smart man, Tony. But, I’ll put two and two together for you. What has Peter been calling you since he got turned into a child?” He said.

“Daddy? I fail to see how that-... oh.” 

“Yeah. My guess is that Peter’s deepest wish was to be your son. The magic, therefore, turned him into a toddler who believed that to be true.” Strange looked over at the young Peter, the sight even bringing a smile to his face. 

“How do we change him back?” Steve said, talking for Tony who looked a little breathless. 

“It’s a very simple spell. By the looks of it... I believe he shall revert back to normal by tomorrow morning. Whoever cast it wasn’t exactly experienced..,” Strange said. “Now... I’d like to let you know that I only helped you because I like Peter. If you ever need anymore help than I’d expect something in return, especially from Stark.”

Tony didn’t react. He went over to Peter and picked the boy up as the kid stared at him, cuddling him into his arms. They all went home, happy with the news. Tony, however, hadn’t spoken a word. As soon as they were back into the tower, he was glued to Peter.

Tony only had until morning to spend time with the toddler Peter. Tony learnt that he loved the feeling of being a dad. He’d have to let Pepper know that he wanted a kid as soon as this was over. He was already a dad, however, he realised. Peter was his. Biological or not. He loved Peter more than ever imaginable. The phrase ‘unconditional’ love never made sense until he met his kid. 

“Daddy?” Peter smiled. “I luv you!” His little arms spread as far as they could. “I luv you this much.”

“Really?” Tony smiled. He spread his hands out further. “Well, I love you this much.”

“I love you 3000,” Peter said, cuddling onto his dad’s lap. 

“Wow, 3000? That sure is a lot,” He said, stroking the kid’s hair. Peter didn’t answer, however, as he had fallen asleep. 

It wasn’t quite evening yet, however. Most of the day had been taken up by travelling down to Strange and back. Tony had limited time with toddler Pete so he wanted to wake the little one up. The kid, however, looked so peaceful that he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He put the kid to bed and groaned. When he woke up, he’d no longer believe Tony was his dad. He’d never hear those magical words coming out of his Peter’s mouth again. He longed to be his father, to be the one he turns to whenever something was wrong. He’s the one that’ll teach him how to fix a car, how to speak to girls (or boys), and everything in between.

Tony woke up with a sigh. He walked into the kitchen and saw regular size Peter standing with all the Avengers. Tony rushed forward and brought the kid into a big hug.

“Oh. This is nice,” Peter grinned. “I must’ve been really missed. The team is just catching me up with what happened. I don’t remember anything-,”

“It’s really good to see you.” Tony whispered. “I love you, Pete.”

“You’ve-You’ve never said that b-before. Do you mean it?” Peter said, his eyes were wide.

“Yes. Of course I do. I love you so much, Pete. You’re my kiddo. You mean everything to me.” Tony rubbed the kid’s back. “I love you like you were my own.” 

“Wow.. I love you too, Mr Stark.”

Mr Stark. Those were the words he didn’t want to hear. He let go of the kid and bit his lip. The kid wasn’t going to be mad if he just asked. He took a deep breath and went for it. “Hey, Pete? How about you call me dad?” 

“What? Re-really?” Peter stuttered. Tony nodded, waiting for the kid to say it. “Ok, Dad.” 

“Don’t think this has you off the hook for not listening to me in missions, kid.” Tony said, laughing at the way the kid’s face went from happy to sheepish. “I told toddler you that you were in trouble and, oh, you definitely are.” 

“Fine...” Peter groaned. “You really are going full in on this dad stuff.” 

“Course I am. I’m Tony Stark, Pete. Did you really think I wouldn’t? You’re grounded for at least 2 months.” 

Four months later, Pepper announced her pregnancy to the team with Peter wearing a big brother T-shirt. No matter who this baby was, he’d always love his two kids equally. 

When Strange explained all of this only happened because Peter got hit by the beam, Tony frowned. Well... Maybe he had a reason to be thankful for Wizards after all...


End file.
